Get Liz’s Clarity Prompt at: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/clarity or DM the word CLARITY to Liz on Instagram @elizhartke 

DM the word SCHEDULE  to liz on Instagram @elizhartke to get the Visionary CEO schedule

In this conversation with leadership advisor Liz Hartke, we uncover the hidden patterns that keep high performers stuck in the trap of “busy,” even when they appear successful on the surface. Liz shares the transformative mindset shifts and tactical frameworks that help entrepreneurs step fully into visionary leadership — without sacrificing their families, freedom, or fulfillment.

You’ll learn:

• The 4 levels of leadership (and how to know which one you’re really operating from)

• Why hustle is often just a mask for insecurity or misalignment

• How to design your business to elevate your life — not consume it

• A countercultural approach to growth rooted in clarity, peace, and long-term legacy

If you’ve ever felt like you’re “doing everything right” but still feel off-track, this episode is you

Guest Bio

For over a dozen years, Liz has served as a Business and Leadership Advisor to thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs internationally - including greats like JOHN C. MAXWELL - helping them exponentially grow in business while unlocking their God-given potential. Liz is the award winning founder and CEO of the Luminary Leadership Co. and is proud to work alongside her incredible team and husband, while also homeschooling their 4 kids from their farm property. Through her competitive masterminds, mentorship, and online programs, Liz has broken the mold on what it looks like to go from busy work, to your life’s work, while honoring the areas of life that matter most. Her expertise and unconventional wisdom has been featured in media outlets including Forbes, Fast Company and Entrepreneur. She’s personally mentored top industry leaders, and has spoken on stages throughout the world. 

After losing their 5th baby at 17 weeks pregnant, and experiencing a miraculous event after nearly losing her life herself, Liz is fiercely passionate about getting ambitious entrepreneurs out of the trap of busy, and into visionary leadership where they can access the intentional, meaningful, and freedom-filled lives they crave.

https://luminaryleadershipco.com/

https://www.instagram.com/elizhartke/

Resources & Mentions

Get Liz’s Clarity Prompt at: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/clarity or DM the word CLARITY to Liz on Instagram @elizhartke 

DM the word SCHEDULE  to liz on Instagram @elizhartke to get the Visionary CEO schedule

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Liz’s Podcast: Your Big Next Podcast

10X is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Ben Hardy

https://luminaryleadershipco.com/

A Perfect New Year Revisit
As we kick off a new year, we wanted to reshare one of our favorite conversations from this past summer. This episode hits differently when you’re setting intentions, evaluating your direction, and deciding how you want to show up in the year ahead.

Consider this a reset, a reminder, or the spark you didn’t know you needed right now.

______

Most leaders optimize their calendars, teams, and tech—but ignore the one system that runs it all: the self.

In this raw and revelatory episode, Joey Klein—transformational coach, martial artist, and founder of Inner Matrix Systems—joins Ben Laws to explore:

• Why personal mastery is the lever that scales your business

• The inner “operating system” running your emotional reactivity

• How to train resilience like a muscle (and why willpower isn’t enough)

• The 4-step method Joey uses to reprogram thoughts and behaviors

• Why alignment—not hustle—is the true edge for entrepreneurs

• What elite leaders do internally that others never see

This is a masterclass in emotional conditioning, visionary leadership, and the inner technology that fuels outer performance.

Guest Bio

Joey Klein is a Transformation and Mastery Expert, Author, Speaker, and the Founder & CEO of

Inner Matrix Systems, a personal mastery training system for high achievers. He is the author of The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real Life Results and his book, Relationship Alchemy: A Practical Guide to Getting Along Well With

Others.

Since starting Inner Matrix Systems in 2002, Joey has trained over 84,000 individuals worldwide, including executives from Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes to ensure their vision is not only enduring but actually creates the fulfillment and impact they desire. After crawling out of the ditch of a hard-partying lifestyle that culminated in a near-death experience at 19 years old, Joey set out on a journey to find peace and joy for himself. He became obsessed with figuring out how to make instant transformation possible, a quest which took him all over the world to study different traditional disciplines like meditation, martial arts, and spiritual traditions.

Upon his return, he studied with expert psychologists and neuroscientists, ultimately leading him to create his proprietary Inner Matrix Method. While instant transformation is possible, Joey’s enduring passion is training mastery inside himself and his clients to truly live the life that’s possible for each one of us As a result of his research, training, and experience, Joey has long been considered an expert on the inner game of performance and is passionate about supporting his clients to live their life all-out with fulfillment and purpose. He embodies this passion through his core values of Excellence, Ownership, Mastery, Integrity, and Results.

Among his clients, Joey has a reputation of fixing un-fixable problems, removing the obstacles that keep them from the life of their dreams, and making himself responsible for their desired outcome until it’s fulfilled. He puts himself directly in the trenches with every client to ensure they achieve the results they’re looking for. His methods are direct, comprehensive, and proven to produce the desired outcome every time.

Joey currently lives in Colorado and enjoys hiking, skiing, and mountain biking to fulfill his desire for fun and adventure.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyklein/

https://www.facebook.com/JoeyKleinIMS/

Instagram: @therealjoeyklein

Resources & Mentions

The Inner Matrix

Relationship Alchemy

joeyklein.com

Scott Ford poses one of the simplest — and most revealing — challenges for high performers: Rate your well-being. Not your business. Not your output. You. If something feels off, this episode shows you how to move one step closer to real wholeness.

Guest Bio

Scott Ford was born an entrepreneur. In fact, he started his first business in middle school! Like all entrepreneurs, he found a passion and then found a way to turn it into a business. Scott performed magic tricks at restaurants and eventually grew into performing at birthday parties. He was raised to believe that the small business owner is the backbone of the economy, and this is why he feels called to serve them. Scott started his career in insurance early and soon realized that business owners need help in all areas where money is concerned so he set out to simplify the ever-increasing complexity that surrounds entrepreneurs as they grow financially. Through his experiences, he learned that we all want the same things…to live life fully, to have love and find our own freedom. He developed The Way2Wealth®, a process for managing wealth, so he could help others who like him, feel that life gets more complicated as it becomes more successful. Scott is a New York Times best-selling author, Former Chairman of the 4 Worlds Global Impact Fund and current member, Managing Director, Partner and Wealth Advisor leading several Carson Wealth locations to focus on serving entrepreneurs.

Today, Scott leads multiple locations with a focus on serving entrepreneurs. His firm specializes in comprehensive wealth management using The Way2Wealth® proprietary process. His personal and proactive approach is designed to bring clarity and simplicity to the complex issues of financial management. It is Scott’s mission to help his clients pursue financial freedom, allowing them to focus on what is most important in their lives now and in the future.

Scott is a life-long learner and spends his free time reading and writing and has published three books, one of which was a New York Times Bestseller. He also enjoys Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, woodworking, and beekeeping. Scott practices sustainable living through permaculture, and sacred bow hunting, using Indigenous wisdom to guide him.

Scott enjoys spending time outdoors and with his family. Scott has come a long way from his first business in middle school and still has plenty of creative tricks up his sleeve! He and his wife, Angie, reside in Hedgesville, WV, and have two grown children, five grandchildren, a dog (Zeppelin) a cat (Maximus), and a plethora of wild animals that come to visit from time to time.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottdford/

Instagram: @scottd.ford

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.ford.7906

Twitter: https://x.com/ScottDFord

Resources & Mentions

The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection by Michael Singer

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer

https://smartbodysmartmind.com/

Alan Watts Video: Live Fully Now

theway2wealth.com

In this episode of The Max Life Podcast, Patrick Walker reveals why blind spots aren’t flaws—they’re signals. Learn how to work with discomfort, feedback, and altered states to uncover your true edge as a leader and human being.

Guest Bio

Patrick Walker is an accomplished entrepreneur, strategic consultant and coach with over three decades of experience navigating all aspects of starting and growing a business through disruptive change and reinvention in challenging markets, industry upheaval and technological change. As a senior consultant, Patrick consults with leaders at all levels in organizations from

Fortune 500 companies to smaller regional firms, Patrick’s work has been both broad and deep, including strategic consulting, exit and succession planning, attracting and retaining top talent, as well as helping both individuals and organizations to identify, work with, and grow beyond their blind spots – a process necessary in business environments of rapid change and increasing complexity.

As the founder of a digital design and manufacturing company, Patrick wore all the usual entrepreneurial hats, but it is in the areas of individual and team development and growth that he is most keenly focused, and has trained with Integral Coaching Canada, The Neuroleadership Institute, The Center for Applied Rationality, Otto Scharmer, Robert Kegan and Terri O’Fallon.

Patrick’s approach is playful but direct, supportive but challenging, and he is devoted to finding that sweet spot that we all require in order to continue our personal and professional evolution – enough discomfort that we’re sufficiently engaged and open to new ideas and behaviors, but not so much that we are overwhelmed - all in service to healthy transformation and sustainable new outcomes. He also loves to read, study and travel with his wife Jeanne, and also plays music - which he did many years ago on cruise ships for 2 years, right after a season on a crab boat out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, which was between semesters during his studies at Western  Washington State University in Elementary Education. He will readily admit to his “checkered past.”

https://www.northish.com 

https://thetelosinstitute.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickwalker4/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisnorthish/

Resources & Mentions

Add link to Finnian Kelly Episode

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan

wecroak.com

Carl Ficks spent over 30 years thriving in one of the most high-pressure jobs on the planet. Now, he coaches leaders on how to lead with emotional clarity, stay consistent under fire, and build trust from the inside out.

In this episode of The Max Life Podcast, you'll uncover three habits that protect your energy, sharpen your thinking, and help you lead without losing yourself — especially when it’s hard.

The first 20 commenters on YouTube get a free copy of Carl's book!

Guest Bio

Carl R. Ficks, Jr., J.D. helps leaders fire up their teams, boost engagement, solve problems collaboratively, and lead with emotional intelligence. A former trial lawyer with 30+ years in the trenches, Carl knows how to thrive under pressure - and teaches others to do the same. He’s a trusted advisor to organizations and nonprofits, an endurance athlete who believes resilience is a superpower, and a frequent voice on leadership and legal podcasts. Carl has a bi-weekly newspaper column titled “The Friday Ficks” and is a contributing author to both the #1 International Bestseller THE WISDOM COLLECTION: Stories That Transform How We Live, Connect, and Lead, and THE DIFFERENCE: Essays on Loss, Courage and Personal Transformation.

https://carlficks.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlrficksjr/

https://www.facebook.com/carl.ficks.1

@carlficks

Resources & Mentions

The Difference: Essays on Loss, Courage, and Personal Transformation 

The Friday Ficks

Rage Against the Dying of the Light by Dylan Thomas

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)

Jeff Benton—advisor to Special Forces, pro athletes, and Fortune 500 leaders—reveals how stress hides in plain sight, disguised as ambition. Discover the simple physiological shift that restores clarity, energy, and connection most high performers never realize they’ve lost.

Guest Bio

Jeff Benton, Founder & CEO of Paragon Performance Evolution, focuses on peak performance training through various aspects of personal and collective growth. By developing customized leadership and high-performance programs, Paragon’s focus is to create significant impact for individuals and client organizations, ranging from FORTUNE 500 companies to Special Forces, professional athletes, leading academic institutions, Global First Ladies, and astronauts.

The core of Paragon's teachings revolve around achieving a coherent state through self-regulation and increased awareness of thoughts and emotions. By helping individuals attain this state of coherence, it enables them to optimize key brain functions and improve overall physiology, leading to greater clarity, presence, joy and gratitude. This enables an individual to achieve greater overall performance, and also deeper and more authentic relationships, at an individual, team and organizational level, creating a collective state of coherence.

The topics covered in Paragon's peak performance training programs are diverse and essential for personal and professional growth. Leadership, resiliency, heart-centered leadership, coherent communication, self-mastery, and emotional intelligence are all vital areas that contribute to overall success and well-being.

Paragon's approach is holistic, combining transformative methodologies with a deep understanding of human behavior to help individuals and organizations reach new heights of success and fulfillment.  This includes combining the best of modern science and human behavior with timeless wisdom.

Ultimately, Jeff’s work allows for him to combine his deepest passions of connecting people and supporting individuals in their journey of transformation, and to be his own human lab, exploring what is possible in this lifetime.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-robert-benton-51240a4/

https://www.instagram.com/paragon_performance/

Resources & Mentions

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

www.performanceparagon.com 

https://performanceparagon.com/individual-programs/

To Receive a Free Coherence Call Invite - Email [email protected]

https://performanceparagon.com/resilience-reset/ 

In this episode of The Max Life Podcast, high-performance coach Finnian Kelly shares how breath — not hustle — unlocks clarity, energy, and calm leadership. You’ll learn how to regulate stress, lead from presence, and shift from reactivity to strategic momentum.

Guest Bio

Finnian Kelly is the founder of Intentionality Inc., a sought-after speaker and high-performance coach, and a master breathwork facilitator. He helps world-changing leaders implement his Intentionality® methodology to find new levels of fulfillment and growth in their creative endeavors, relationships, and overall well-being. As a successful entrepreneur and a retired officer in the Australian military, Finnian has been dubbed "the Business Mystic'' because of his unique ability to awaken consciousness in business and inspire CEOs and leadership teams to have a more expansive human experience. 

www.finniankelly.com

https://www.instagram.com/thefinniankelly/

https://www.facebook.com/thefinniankelly/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefinniankelly/

https://www.youtube.com/@thefinniankelly

https://x.com/TheFinnKelly

Resources & Mentions

The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter

Intentionality: A Groundbreaking Guide to Breath, Consciousness, and Radical Self-Transformation by Finnian Kelly

https://www.omya.life/

https://cascada.me/

Scott Hollrah scaled a nationally recognized firm—then chose to pause. In this episode, we explore why stepping back sharpened his leadership, and how clarity follows stillness.

You’ll learn: using sabbaticals as strategy, hiring by values, and leading without burnout.

Guest Bio

Scott Hollrah is the Founder & CEO of Venn Technology, where he transformed a one-person consultancy into a nationally recognized integration firm trusted by mid-market organizations and backed by strategic partnerships with Stripe and Sage Intacct. Venn has earned consistent recognition on the Inc 5000, Aggie 100, and as a Best Place to Work, while delivering millions in recurring revenue through automation that makes businesses run smarter.

Known for a values-driven approach to leadership, Scott has built a culture where people thrive and results follow. He has advised organizations across industries—from construction to healthcare to nonprofits—always with a focus on solving complex problems with practical, lasting solutions.

Outside of Venn, Scott hosts In the Thick of It, a podcast that highlights the raw and real journeys of fellow founders. A husband, father of three, traveler, and aspiring photographer, he balances entrepreneurial grit with a passion for investing in people and purpose.

Scott is a proud graduate of Texas A&M’s Mays Business School (BBA, Marketing) and remains deeply connected to his Aggie roots.

linkedin.com/company/venn-technology

linkedin.com/in/scotthollrah

linkedin.com/company/in-the-thick-of-it-podcast

Resources & Mentions

venntechnology.com

Not Being Bothered by Dan Sullivan

10X is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan

The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike Michalowicz

Cherish: The One Word That Changes Everything for Your Marriage by Gary Thomas

Scott’s Podcast: In the Thick of It  

Entrepreneurs are told to want more. Charlotte (The Mind Friend) challenges that narrative with Selective Ambition — the art of pursuing goals rooted in values, not vanity. Learn the 3 questions that reveal what truly drives you, how intentional constraints protect freedom, and why discomfort is a feature, not a flaw. This episode of MaxLife is a masterclass in designing success that feels good on the inside — not just the outside.

Guest Bio

Charlotte is a psychologist-turned-business coach who helps founders, coaches, and creatives build freedom-first businesses rooted in clarity, self-trust, and sustainable growth. Through her brand The Mind Friend, she blends grounded psychology with high-performance strategy to help her clients rewire internal blocks, show up fully, and scale without burning out or selling out. 

Originally from Switzerland, Charlotte once moved to a remote island in the South Pacific — and has since built a location-independent business that reflects the life she actually wants to live. She’s a former competitive athlete, certified yoga teacher, and divemaster — now splitting her time between Cape Town and Europe, helping entrepreneurs grow businesses that are mentally sustainable and strategically sound.

Instagram: @themindfriend

Substack (Selectively Ambitious): https://themindfriend.substack.com/

Self-sabotage course: https://themindfriend.net/ssc

1:1 Coaching Application: https://3nwicvkwnfe.typeform.com/to/hINLmOTb

Resources & Mentions

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat

Substack (Selectively Ambitious): https://themindfriend.substack.com/

Self-sabotage course: https://themindfriend.net/ssc

1:1 Coaching Application: https://3nwicvkwnfe.typeform.com/to/hINLmOTb

Behavioral economist Dr. Don Barden unpacks the leadership framework driving what he calls the next great economic expansion. Based on thousands of interviews and deep quantitative research, he outlines the unseen advantages women bring to leadership—and the exact steps any leader can take to replicate the results. You’ll hear how empathy, empowerment, and perspective are reshaping retention, revenue, and the rhythm of modern business.

DM Don for a FREE ecopy of his book Here Come the Girls.

Guest Bio

Dr. Don Barden is a classically trained economist, globally recognized as an expert in leadership and the decision-making process. With three decades of corporate leadership and production in employee benefits and organizational leadership, he has changed the landscape of several US and international firms.

Don was named one of the Top 30 Most “Transformational Leaders in North America” by John Maxwell and the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In 2019, the Department of Defense recognized him with honors from the 75th US Army Ranger Regiment, and he was named 2020 YMCA Volunteer of the Year.

He is certified in Cybersecurity Management from Harvard University and has a Ph.D. in Economics and Organizational Leadership from Columbia International University. He earned his M.B.A. in Global Technology Management and International Business with an undergraduate B.B.A. in Economics and Finance. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Don’s work challenges and motivates organizations and leadership teams to think deeply about their beliefs to consistently achieve their communication, culture, sales, and management goals. His “unfair advantage” theories are revolutionary in today’s economy as he leads and builds companies in a way that exposes the myth of modern leadership and communication techniques. Don’s recent work, “Here Come the Girls,” celebrates women in leadership. The study aims to help frustrated organizations transform by awakening their creative energy, thereby paving the way for uncharted production through cultural change.

Conquering the highest levels of ethical performance with humor, intellectual capital, and time-tested systems, Don engages his teams with his highly personal style of steward leadership. His experience with cultural change and record-setting growth has drawn him to corporations that want to tap into his real-world expertise to move their organizations to higher levels of achievement. Don is well known in the financial industry, with sales averaging over $ 1 billion per year, and for his original book, The Perfect Plan, is available in 39 countries worldwide.

Don also serves as a Trustee and the past Chairman of the Summit Counseling Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a past board member of the Metro Atlanta YMCA and was responsible for designing their COVID response and post-COVID strategic initiatives. He is a past Board Member of the Sua Sponte Foundation. Additionally, he lectures at Wake Forest University, The Wharton School of Business, and Oxford University (U.K.) Dr. Barden is a frequent instructor at the US Army 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalion / 75 th Regiment’s Leadership and Professional Development Program.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwbarden/

https://www.instagram.com/donbarden 

Resources & Mentions

https://donbarden.com/category/here-come-the-girls/

Here Come the Girls: A Celebration of Why Women Will Take Over Global Leadership In 2028 by Don Barden